Zynga Poker is leading the race to take over the Ongame Network, eGaming Review reports.

The Ongame Network was supposed have been sold to Las Vegas-based slot machine manufacturer Shuffle Master this month, but the proposed deal suddenly collapsed this week.

The deal was reported to have been taken off the table due to the complicated legal environment in the United States, and the decision to cancel was described as "mutual."

Since then, owners bwin.party entertainment has continued to search for a suitable buyer, and the company may now have found one in social gaming giant Zynga.

According to the unnamed sources close to the situation, Zynga executives have visited Ongame headquarters last week and have made a verbal offer to purchase the network.

Originally intimately linked with Facebook, Zynga has recently been looking for an opportunity to make the jump to become an independent, full-scale gaming operator.

While the company has been reluctant to discuss the prospects of bringing real-money gambling to its millions of clients, it has been moving in this direction for the past year.

In March, Zynga launched its first stand-alone gaming platform that allows players to play Zynga's games without first logging into their Facebook accounts.

March also witnessed Zynga founder and CEO Mark PIncus admit the first time that his company and real-money gambling would be "a natural fit".